Is a Daily Deal the Right Marketing Strategy for Your Business?

Companies like Groupon and Living Social have developed large networks of customers that are actively seeking new products and services. Whether to participate in a daily is a big decision to make for a small business owner that is looking for exposure to a large existing customer base in their area. The deal sites are known for taking a significant portion of a daily deal and the price being charged to the end customer is already usually below the price a company would normally charge for their services. This is what attracts the huge number of potential customers, however, if done without fully thinking out the true costs of providing the deal and servicing the influx of customers a business can go take a massive financial hit if customers do not stay around and make purchases in the future.

A joint venture marketing relationship with other local businesses may not have the overall reach that a Groupon or Living Social has in a specific demographic, but the revenue share terms will likely be much more favorable and still present your product and service to your target demographic. A daily deal can be great one time marketing campaign for some businesses and so it should be considered as a strategy for any business.

Issues with Groupon to be aware of:

1. Many small businesses have lost considerable amounts of money due to the deals that they have done. Groupon sales reps are not there to make sure that the deal is an ultimate success for your business’s long term future, only that the deals are sold at the best price and revenue split for Groupon.

2. While some companies have received decent terms from Groupon others have had a worse than 50% revenue share with the deal site.

3. Many of the customers are only there for the cheap prices and are not your customers, they are Groupon customers and will be purchasing another deal from another provider the next time they need the same product or service that you provide.

4. People will travel to your location for a great deal, but may never return due to the longer distance from their home.

5. It can cheapen your brand. Customers that know you and made a purchase through Groupon or Living Social may resist paying full price in hopes that you’ll do another super sale in the future.

There are other issues to be aware of such as brand control, customer satisfaction, upsetting existing customers who did not purchase the Groupon deal and many more. Unless your business really needs a last ditch effort to reach as many customers as possible, a different approach to customer acquisition would be best.

Find the right business partners that have your target demographic as their existing customers and create a joint venture marketing relationship that allows both businesses to equally benefit and grow rather than getting a daily deal site rich.

Christian Fea is CEO of Synertegic, Inc. A Joint Venture Marketing firm. He exemplifies how to profit from Joint Venture relationships by creating profit centers with minimal risk and maximum profitability.

Discover more Joint Venture Marketing Strategies join his free report on Joint Venture Marketing.

Reach New Customers & Potential Partners Through Existing Business

Small business owners that develop relationships with their best customers can receive excellent referrals in the form of new business as well as partnerships with other companies within the industry. Marketing can be very expensive and with limited budgets many small businesses can gain an advantage by tapping into the rolodex of their customers whenever possible. Many people that you interact with on a regular basis during your daily business activities will be more than willing to make an introduction or referral, but you have to ask. I’ve found that most business relationships can lead to at least a few new opportunities and sometimes many more so it’s wise to take the time for lunches, dinners, sporting events, rounds of golf, and other casual activities that can help build your ecosystem of business professionals willing to make introductions and referrals.

Develop Individual Relationships with Key Customers

Taking the time to build individual relationships with your best customers can be advantages for many reasons including; finding new clients, creating introductions to new business opportunities and gaining referrals that close. Every customer interaction is a potential link to a new customer so make sure you take the time to educate consumers about opportunities to make referrals and the discounts or cash payments they may receive for making an introduction or referral. A typical activity that should be done on a regular basis is to send out emails about product updates and new services that also mention the opportunity for making referrals to new customers.

It’s important that you are close with your key customers and business partners that provide the bulk of your referral business and this is best done in a setting away from the office or in traditional meetings. Key clients and partners should be wined and dined and taken care of based on the importance of the role they play in the growth of your business. There are many ways to show appreciation to a key person in your professional ecosystem. Business referrals and revenue shares are always appreciated and a great way to solidify a business relationship with a customer that helps expand your business. Additional methods for rewarding contributing players include; a nice lunch on your tab or maybe tickets to a sporting event that show your appreciation without having to directly dole out cash. Other gestures that can be much appreciated are gift certificates for nice restaurants in your local area or a weekend getaway at a nearby resort. Again make sure to reward your business ecosystem, but do so according to the value they provide for the growth of your businesses.

Ask for the Business

Many small company owners are fearful to ask directly for someone’s business when it’s actually the best way to do it. If you don’t ask, people will often think that you’re busy, have plenty of deal flow or not actively seeking new clients. Consequently the people that have great connections for you will simply not offer even though they are willing to help. Small business owners need to routinely ask customers and business associates for client referrals. By keeping a log of your communications with different customers and business relationships in your CRM system you will not need to worry about feeling like you are asking the same person too frequently. It’s critical that you remain in the forefront of your business acquaintances’ minds in order for them to remember you and your company when they interact with someone that could use your product or service. Send birthday cards, make occasional calls and drop by to say “hello” to key customers and people your business interacts with in order to keep those relationships fresh and relevant.

Every small business owner needs to maximize their business and customer relations in order to reach the next customer or next hot lead. Make sure to reward your ecosystem for providing quality leads that close and don’t be afraid to ask for business or client referrals.

Christian Fea is CEO of Synertegic, Inc. A Joint Venture Marketing firm. He exemplifies how to profit from Joint Venture relationships by creating profit centers with minimal risk and maximum profitability.

Discover more Joint Venture Marketing Strategies join his free report on Joint Venture Marketing.

Positive Customer Support Attracts More Business from Existing Clients

A joint venture marketing partnership gets a business and their line of products and/or services in front of new customers, but failure to execute satisfactorily will kill the deal. If you are unable to properly service the inflow of customers and ensure satisfied clients than the partnership flow of hot leads will dry up and many partners may walk away from the deal if they feel customers have been impacted negatively.

The biggest fear of any joint venture partner is how there customers will be treated from the start of the sales cycle to the delivery of the goods or services and any issues that may arise in between. No one wants to be the person that recommends a company only for that person to have an unpleasant experience. This needs to be a number one priority for heavily sales focused organizations that have teams constantly pushing for the next deal to close. Create processes in the exchange between partners to make sure customers are followed up with on specific time intervals post sales transaction to ensure any issues are resolved quickly and efficiently.

Ticket System for Issues

Depending on the size of the partner businesses and the number of potential customers it is wise to have a ticket system in place for reporting issues. This system should be made available to all partners for the purpose of responding to customer service issues as they arise in order to make sure they’re handled in an efficient and timely manner. There’s nothing worse then being a customer with a problem and feeling like you are contacting a black hole. Create an online email form where customers can fill out requests or ask questions. Make sure the online ticket system has an automated response to reassure the customer that their issue has been received and will be addressed soon.

Log Problems & Update During Meetings

Logging all customer problems should be mandatory in the partnership agreement so that both parties can improve the customer experience. Both partner companies should be seeking clients that will actively refer their business based on a smooth and professional customer service experience. During meetings with partners resolving customer complaints and problems with service should be addressed without delay and if there is a string of issues that stem from a single problem do not wait to address the problem at a later date get it fixed immediately. It can be easy to avoid making changes to personal or procedures, but that’s why any partnership needs to start slow and work out any kinks between the two companies servicing the customer together.

Reward Excellent Customer Service

If you have an employee that is repeatedly acknowledged by customers as especially helpful, make sure to reward that employee in a way that fits your company’s culture. Whether it’s a small bonus or gift certificate, employees that go above and beyond to provide excellent service deserve recognition for the work they’re putting in. Resolving customer problems and dealing with issues that the sales team may have not been clear about can be difficult on a customer support team member. For this reason it’s extremely important to do everything possible to make sure the marketing and sales pitches are consistent across the board.

Take the time to make consumers feel special and you’ll be rewarded with long term customers that ultimately assist you in attracting new business by their referrals. Failure to provide consistent and excellent customer service will only cost your business in the long run by losing crucial customer referrals. Spend time with your front line of customer support team to understand the issues that they’re facing repeatedly to try and resolve them from occurring altogether in the future.

Christian Fea is CEO of Synertegic, Inc. A Joint Venture Marketing firm. He exemplifies how to profit from Joint Venture relationships by creating profit centers with minimal risk and maximum profitability.

Discover more Joint Venture Marketing Strategies join his free report on Joint Venture Marketing.

Attract New Business by Creating Personal Connections with Business Partners and Clients

When attracting new business it is wise to build personal relationships with the people you interact with the most, whether it’s a business partner or a potential long term client. While it is important to be focused on the core business issues at hand during a conversation with a business partner or a new client, spending a few minutes to gather some personal information and being conscious of building a personal relationship will ensure that special connections can be made.

While a personal relationship does not always immediately attract new business it can be the difference in closing a deal or getting a business referral later down the road. Leverage your personal relationship in marketing strategies to reach new clients, especially through social media networks such as Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. Focus on the most important details for a person and make them feel special to attract new business through personal relationships.

Details To Capture

During a business meeting there is often personal information that is shared either in the first few minutes before the meeting gets going or during the meeting when used to discuss a specific issue. Be aware of these details and jot them down in your notepad to record later. It’s important when meeting with someone that could be a business partner or long term client to be focused on developing a personal connection. Personal connections not only help you with the business transaction that is on the table at the time, but can assist in attracting new business down the road as well as build your own network of contacts.

The following details are often openly discussed and can be used to make a personal connection:

• Name of spouse – If someone mentions they are planning a birthday or anniversary for their spouse, write that down, if you are still doing business with that person in a year sending a message to say happy anniversary or birthday will be a surprise to them and be something that will help solidify a personal relationship.

• Special Dates – Be aware of any special days that are mentioned as being important to the person and jot this down. Can be a birthday for themselves or the kids, anniversary, or special holidays etc.

• Family names – Write down the names of children and ages also note down any specific activities. If someone mentions one of their kids is playing sports and they will be at a game that weekend, make sure to ask how Jimmy or Sally did in there game that weekend when you talk next. Showing that you care about what is important to them outside of the work environment is really important to create a relationship that is distinguishable from a standard working relationship.

• Favorite Activities – Learning what a person does in their free time gives you a reason to start off the next conversation with a topic that the person enjoys. An example would be if someone mentions that they were out fishing the previous weekend and you are meeting a few weeks later, asking if they got a chance to get out on the water shows you care to understand about what they are passionate about. This is the same if someone mentions they like going to music shows or seeing sporting events, finding out what a person enjoys and bringing it up during the informal parts of a meeting can forge the personal connection that leads to more business later.

Leverage Personal Relationships

Leveraging personal relationships in business to attract new clients is important. Most people that are active in social media and a business professional will have a LinkedIn account. Getting access to someone’s LinkedIn account by allowing them to connect with you is important even if it’s a purely business relationship. However if you can become friends with someone on Facebook the likely hood you can generate more business from them increases as most people are more reserved in who they will friend on Facebook versus LinkedIn. Depending on your business marketing strategy Facebook can be effective, but only if you have the friends that are the right people that can actually either act on the business opportunity or have people as friends that would make a business referral.

Getting your personal relationships to help attract new business for your business is the ultimate goal of spending the time necessary to build real relationships with people versus superficial ones or business only connections.

Christian Fea is CEO of Synertegic, Inc. A Joint Venture Marketing firm. He exemplifies how to profit from Joint Venture relationships by creating profit centers with minimal risk and maximum profitability.

Discover more Joint Venture Marketing Strategies join his free report on Joint Venture Marketing.

Use Visually Appealing Marketing to Attract New Business

All marketing campaigns should have a visual component to them and many marketing activities might be entirely a visual experience for the end user, so focus on the graphics and design team to increase the likely hood that a new marketing effort will attract new business. When marketing to a new customer it’s critical to catch their attention and create a desire within them to want to learn more about your product or service. Depending on the marketing message and the desired demographics the visuals will be different but they need to achieve the overall goal of capturing the person’s attention long enough that there is an opportunity to acquire the new business. Small business owners have many resources available to them through the web to have the capabilities to hire designers and execute new campaigns.

Crowdsource Ideas

One of the best methods for finding the right marketing images for a specific joint venture marketing campaign is to crowdsource the project out to many different design teams that are competing for your business. This allows you to put your concept and marketing campaign focus into words and allow several designers to put their inspiration into your ideas and create an excellent visual marketing tool. Companies like 99Design.com provide graphic design services for many core business marketing tools that are likely to be part of any joint venture marketing with your business partners.

Crowdsource Examples

An example of the types of graphic design work available for crowdsourcing:

• Logo Design
• Web Design
• Business Cards
• Icon Design
• WordPress Theme Design
• Stationery Design
• Brochure Design
• Print & Packaging
• T-Shirt Design
• Banner Ads

Crowdsource Benefits

Using a crowdsourcing solution like 99Designs.com for creating all the graphics and marketing collateral for your next marketing campaign allows you to cull the best from several smart and creative designers. Each project you load into the system is like a mini-contest, the designers will create their work and when you select the one you like they are awarded the job. This allows you to avoid the process of finding and hiring the perfect candidate. If none of the designs will work for the marketing campaign you can get all your money back.

Ready to Attract New Business

By creating very appealing marketing collateral for all marketing campaigns, the businesses capability to attract new business will improve. Creating a banner or special T-shirt for a specific event that your business is attending and marketing can be that unique touch that separates your business from the rest. Engage with your target demographic by connecting your brand with visual images that appeal to them. Include as much detail about your target market to the designers in the crowdsourced pool as possible. This will ensure the best designers will align their work to match the market.

Leverage the online community of graphic designers to easily improve the visual appeal of marketing campaigns to attract new business.

Christian Fea is CEO of Synertegic, Inc. A Joint Venture Marketing firm. He exemplifies how to profit from Joint Venture relationships by creating profit centers with minimal risk and maximum profitability.

Discover more Joint Venture Marketing Strategies join his free report on Joint Venture Marketing.

Attract New Business with Video Marketing

An important element of any marketing strategy that’s aiming to attract new business should be the inclusion of videos in the marketing campaign. Videos can serve several purposes in a joint venture marketing campaign including: educating about a partner or a product, used for acquiring new leads, or explaining a process that is internal to the business relationship among many other functions.

Video is a great medium for getting facts and information across in a short time frame and can allow a customer to engage with a brand despite being on their computer or mobile device. Creating a video that supports your businesses goals in attracting new business does not need to be a significant investment especially if you are a smaller business or start up, a low budget video can still be extremely effective. Sell your brand through video and you will attract more business and reach more customers through channels set up with joint venture partners.

Marketing Uses for Video

Here is just a high level overview of the places and uses for video content in a joint venture marketing relationship. Video allows you to be creative in both creation and distribution yet still retain control complete control over the message inside.

Youtube - Keep an active Youtube account. It will have a positive impact on your businesses natural search engine results and is a great place to send people looking for more information to look through all of the videos.

Facebook & Twitter – These social media sites are perfect for allowing your community of followers to share your content with others that may find it interesting.

Partner Training Website – Have videos that relate to the joint venture marketing partnership on your website. If there is in-person training when the partnership kicks off make sure to have it recorded so a future employee can get up to speed on the business relationship.

Landing Page / Marketing Pages of Website – Using video on a website or in a landing page can be very helpful when attracting new business. I recommend not having a video that starts immediately on your landing page however, having a video that is prominently located on the page and easily click able by the customer is great. Loading the video and playing instantly can impede the persons experience with the website if their Internet connection is slow.

However, a video is capable of packing in all of the details a customer may want to know about if they like what they see in first few seconds of a landing page. The video should help attract and close the new business and direct people how to get in touch with a sales representative or direct them to the e-commerce site.

Email and Newsletter Blasts – Include a video in your next company newsletter or customer update newsletter and track the success of the video. You can upload a new video prior to sending out a new message to see how many people are viewing your videos. If you have a high rate of success of getting people to click on videos from your newsletters then you can expand on selling to the potential business that you have attracted interest of.

Embrace creating content to drive awareness about your partners’ products and service when selling for a joint venture marketing partners including making videos and other visual content that interests your target market. Videos and pictures are key drivers in attracting new business and then a solid pitch and answers to the customer’s questions will be able to seal the deal.

Make a new video about a business partner and see if you can drive new leads that might not have been otherwise cultivated.

Christian Fea is CEO of Synertegic, Inc. A Joint Venture Marketing firm. He exemplifies how to profit from Joint Venture relationships by creating profit centers with minimal risk and maximum profitability.

Discover more Joint Venture Marketing Strategies join his free report on Joint Venture Marketing.

Integrate With Business Partners to Get New Clients

Small business owners that are looking for their big break in reaching new clients quickly are wise to develop joint venture partnerships with companies that can instantly integrate their product into existing offerings. This is the type of partnership that will limit the amount of interaction a company will have with the end customer, however it drives sales numbers so it’s worth the loss in branding to partner with a top tier company that can really accelerate growth quickly.

Be conscious of who you partner with in these types of relationships. If you have developed a truly unique product the company you do business deals with may see you as a potential target for acquisition. Be sure you have the proper intellectual property documentation filed. This is a good thing for most business owners, however even at the earliest stages of a company with unique intellectual property you need to be aware of your exit strategies and how structuring a business deal leads you down different paths.

Path of Least Resistance

Going to market and acquiring customers is expensive. The purpose of a joint venture relationship is to leverage the capability of a business partner to bring new clients that are actively looking to buy a product or service. However, sometimes the path of least resistance for quickly closing new business is to integrate with a partner and allow them to sell their clients a solution that includes both you and your partner’s products and services with no difference seen by the customer.

By allowing a partner to OEM or white label your product it reduces the amount of training and education required for effective selling to new clients. Bundling a product into an existing offering allows a partner to increase their value to their customers and at the same time reward you for your innovation. These types of relationships also reduce the overhead that is required for even basic tasks like accounting and customer service. While there may be some duties required, if issues arise with the product or service these will generally be dealt with between the two companies independent of the customer.

Prepare for Growth

When doing an OEM deal with a product for a business partner that has the Rolodex of customers to quickly sell a product or service it’s important to anticipate and plan for the growth. However; it is critical for most small businesses to time the addition of new employees with the actual time they are needed to fill in. Temporary hires can always be found in a pinch through a temp agency depending on the tasks your business and the partnership will require. It’s crucial that you have a clear and open dialogue with the business partner and to start the roll out slow with a pilot program in order to give your business time to ramp up and keep up with demand.

The plan for your businesses growth if doing business with a larger Fortune 500 type company is essential to the success of the partnership. There will need to be funds available to service the demand if the business partnerships success increases faster than anticipated. Some revenue cycles for larger companies may be longer than a small business is capable of operating under without having the necessary cash for pay roll and new costs associated to the growth occurring with new clients.

Find partners that can integrate your company seamlessly and the chances for a successful partnership go up dramatically. The reduced costs involved with an OEM type relationship will increase the ROI on each relationship versus other deals that may have significant capital investments in marketing and customer support duties.

Christian Fea is CEO of Synertegic, Inc. A Joint Venture Marketing firm. He exemplifies how to profit from Joint Venture relationships by creating profit centers with minimal risk and maximum profitability.

Discover more Joint Venture Marketing Strategies join his free report on Joint Venture Marketing.

How to Get More Clients: Hire a Business Development Expert

If your business has been struggling to get more clients in the last few months or year then consider hiring a business development expert that can find the right joint venture marketing partners that can deliver hot leads to your sales team. Many businesses can find themselves in a rut where it’s really difficult to acquire new customers. A joint venture marketing partnership can be the right strategy to get moving forward again. A business development pro will understand the process of putting together a solid business deal that can grow your company. If you feel that building a network of business partners can help grow your business in ways that are unachievable by yourself then find the right consultant or individual that you can bring in-house and do the deals that will get your company more clients.

Hire the Right Person

Hiring a business development person is different than finding a sales person for your team. While a business development expert can always play the role as sales person the opposite is not always true. A person that specifically focuses on business development will understand how to communicate potential business deals to perspective businesses in the right manner. They will understand that it is critical that a strong relationship is forged between the individuals doing the business deal and the company employees that will be involved in implementing the partnership.

Hiring a consultant or consulting firm to act as a business development team for you company is a great route for many small businesses. Many business that do not have the internal man power and capabilities to identify, engage, and do the business deals necessary for growth can benefit from a consultant or consulting firm that has access to the business decision makers or the experience necessary to reach out to companies and develop the relationships required to put together a great business deal.

While a consultants hourly rate may be higher than you’re comfortable with a deal can be put together much faster by a professional than someone trying for the first time to structure a business partnership. Consultants often will require an hourly rate or fixed salary as well as some kind of bonus structure for placing deals together which may be a single payout for each business deal that is signed or a revenue share that is paid out over a period of time based on the amount of business that is ultimately generated from the relationships. Most consultants will not work for pure commission deals unless they believe that a deal can be put together extremely fast and will generate immediate revenue. Most will want a cash payment coupled with a bonus structure. Companies that want to execute business deals with larger fortune 500 type companies should always highly consider hiring an expert that has preexisting relationships with the company that you want to do a deal with. It’s common to hire a consultant for one specific business partnership.

Managing a Business Development Team

Managing a business development team member is similar to a sales team member in many respects. It is important that as a business owner you control and own the data that is developed by the team member by making them use the corporate customer relationship management system and uploading any data and reports on potential business partners to the corporate document server. Failing to do this a common problem with companies and their sales teams and even more so with business development professionals as the relationships they have and bringing to the table are often held tightly and not given up easily.

If you are hiring an outside consultant there may be specific clauses in the agreement about who owns what data. This is something to be aware of as it can be very frustrating to be a month or two in developing a new business partner and have a person leave and take the contact information and data with them leaving you in a tough place to continue. It’s critical to recognize that a business development team member is going to need to spend time out of the office meeting with companies, going to business events and other functions that may be fruitful in finding and meeting the right business partners, however if you are paying for someone to be at an event then make sure the business cards that are collected get scanned and retained by the company.

If you have decided that in order to get more clients your business needs to develop strategic business partners than consider outsourcing the work to a consultant or hiring a business development expert in order to speed up the process. Avoid taking team members off their existing duties or forcing yourself to forge the relationships by yourself and add more duties to your already exhausting schedule.

Christian Fea is CEO of Synertegic, Inc. A Joint Venture Marketing firm. He exemplifies how to profit from Joint Venture relationships by creating profit centers with minimal risk and maximum profitability.

Discover more Joint Venture Marketing Strategies join his free report on Joint Venture Marketing.

Attract New Clients with Regional Partners

If your business is looking to attract new clients through joint venture partnerships, identifying businesses that have significant market share in a specific region is an excellent way to tap new markets that otherwise are impenetrable. Leveraging partners in hot markets whether that it’s a city, state, or country is the fastest way to reach communities of potential new clients.

Developing a regional or locally focused strategy for joint venture marketing partnerships will generally mean working with smaller businesses versus large national or international corporations which require specific techniques to make successful. Small business owners may be less inclined to risk hurting their existing client base by introducing a partner’s products or services but due to their specific market intelligence and the close relationships with your target customers, once a partnership is crafted new business should close quickly.

Finding Regional Partners

If your company has made the decision to attempt to attract new clients with regional joint venture marketing partners than it’s important to create a database of potential partners. There are several sources that can be used including online and offline methods. A few of the best locations to find information about what companies exist in the markets you are seeking are:

Yelp - There is loads of business listed in Yelp. Search for the types of companies that are perfect fits for your business based on the industry and then by city for the regions that you are pursuing. Make sure and review the ratings and comments about the business.

 

Trades Shows – Finding regional partners by attending industry trade shows is an excellent way to not only find which small business exist in the space, but it’s also a great opportunity to meet and discuss potential partnerships with business development professionals that often attend trade shows for companies. Reviewing trade show websites and looking through the list of attending businesses can also help you identify which regional businesses are out there.

 

Outsource Business Development - Hire a local person to assist with the legwork of finding the right potential partners. By working with a person that resides in the location that you want to take your business into is an excellent way to tap local knowledge and get personal introductions and referrals to likely candidates.

 

Benefits for Small Business Partners

Make sure that you have fully thought out what the benefits are that a partnership with your business grants to a small business partner. Small businesses are likely to be extremely cost conscious concerning exploring a potential new partnership. Most small businesses will not have a person that is dedicated entirely to creating partnerships with other business and so you’ll be taking time away from a sales person or executive management right away when discussing a partnership strategy. Due to this fact it is vital that you have a carrot to offer to small business owners so they can see how a new relationship will generate revenue quickly. Partnerships not able to attack “low hanging fruit” which result in immediate ROI for a small business will be less likely to succeed or turn into a long lasting relationship.

Including marketing support resources will help a small business owner look favorably on your idea of developing a business relationship. While it is essential that you attract new clients for your own business, a partner will often be looking for opportunities to attract new business for themselves as well. That is of course unless the revenue share involved in the partnership is so good that it does not matter, however most small businesses will want to grow there number of clients as well. Marketing support can be as limited as just providing the basic marketing collateral already printed and prepared to be handed out to existing clients.

Finding the right local partners is a great way to build a roster of new clients in a specific region, but make sure that your small business partners are well taken care of and can see an ROI in a short time frame. If you can deliver to a small business partner it can be your greatest ally in a new market, however failing to be conscious of their specific interests and resources can see a partnership deteriorate before getting off the ground.

Christian Fea is CEO of Synertegic, Inc. A Joint Venture Marketing firm. He exemplifies how to profit from Joint Venture relationships by creating profit centers with minimal risk and maximum profitability.

Discover more Joint Venture Marketing Strategies join his free report on Joint Venture Marketing.

Attract New Business with a Monthly or Quarterly Partner Promotion

Attracting new business through a joint venture marketing partner can be achieved with a higher rate of success when a special price or unique product offering is available or exclusive offerings that are only available to clients of a joint venture marketing partner can be pitched by sales teams to their relationships. Discuss potential promotions with JV marketing partners and be open to their suggestions about potential promotions that will work well with planned marketing campaigns. Customers always appreciate a good deal, so use special promotions to acquire new business that is being serviced by a competitor or previously just not ready to make a buy decision.

Channels for Promotions

The following are excellent channels to use to promote a special product or service discount.

Email - Sending an email to a joint venture partner’s existing customer base should be part of any new promotion strategy. Collect emails from people that visit your website or read your companies blog and include them in your email blasts for deals.

Facebook / Twitter - Spread the news about monthly or quarterly special offerings through the social networks. Include specials or unique offerings that are only available to your online community at Facebook and Twitter.

Internal Contests - Reward sales team members of your company or from your JV partners based on their performance. Whether its cash or a nice gift, giving something special to the sales person that sells the most of a monthly or quarterly promotion can help drive more success from the team as a whole.

Online Deal Shopping Sites – If the products and services are consumer facing then consider listing any deals developed with a joint venture marketing partner on sites like SlickDeals.net or FatWallet.com. Both sites allow promotions and special coupons to be listed and shared with the public.

Attract New Business

While many business partnerships use promotions to market to an existing customer base and to extract more revenue from the customers that the business already has, promotions are always a good reason to contact customers to make sure that the business is at the forefront of their customer’s minds and to continue to build strong relationships with them. However; when using a promotion specifically to attract new business, it’s wise to include some of the following techniques in your offering in order to win over new potential customers. While existing customers are always looking for savings or a unique offer, new customers are seeking a major change from their existing providers or they are new to the market and need product education and additional hand holding that an established client may not need.

Free - Include something for free in your offer regardless if it ends up being a minor detail in the overall product or service. A complimentary assessment or small item can get the new customer relationship off to a good start.

Match or Beat Competition – Promising to match or beat the competition’s price on similar items or services is an excellent way to acquire customers that are currently dissatisfied with their existing solution and open for a change even if the savings or discount is only for a limited time frame.

Time Sensitive – Using timing in a promotion can be done in a couple of different ways. Place a specific trigger date that the offering is valid through. The other way to leverage time sensitivities when attracting new business is to provide a new customer with a special discount that only lasts for a certain period of time as a reward for becoming a new customer.

Incorporate the right strategies inside of your monthly and quarterly promotions and it will be much easier for you and your JV marketing partners to attract new business. By making sure the promotions are tailored to the needs of customers that are looking for new solutions or opening to changing what they currently have, your promotions will be more likely to resonate with people that will become new business. Make sure if you’re doing promotions with business partners to extract business from their existing customer base, saving time and energy to be focused on obtaining new clients.

Christian Fea is CEO of Synertegic, Inc. A Joint Venture Marketing firm. He exemplifies how to profit from Joint Venture relationships by creating profit centers with minimal risk and maximum profitability.

Discover more Joint Venture Marketing Strategies join his free report on Joint Venture Marketing.

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